Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Book Begins Thusly

Let's see...today I drank hot chocolate with my girls, I did an upper body workout with that bitch from YourselfFitness----I caught up on Battlestar Galactica while working on some more comic book Valentines, I made the girls' room all spic-and-span----I held office hours and the hands of many students as they bravely (or not) voyage their way through their first paper; I admitted that my cell phone, three times washed, has died and must be replaced by another; I gave my camera into the hands of one beautiful daughter so that she could capture with her own photographic eye the sublime beauty of another daughter-- --and, friends, I began my book:
It's a how-to and a manifesto treating upon lifelong learning as it applies to the family: essentially, the desire to learn and engage with our world is a lifestyle that we can model for our children and participate in with them. I'm interested in exploring not just ways in which we can offer our children enrichment in traditional (and non-traditional) academic areas, but also how we, ourselves can still learn in these areas with our children, and can enjoy learning.

The hands-on, DIY ethic is integral to this process, as is our responsibility to our community and our environment. I plan to include lots of projects, activities, and tutorials, lots of ideas for engaging in these areas within our larger communities, and an overarching premise of self-sufficiency and sustainability.

And, if possible, I plan to make it sound a little more entertaining than what you just read--I'm saving all the witty remarks for the book itself, apparently.

Now, friends...any advice on obtaining a literary agent?

7 comments:

Abby said...

Good for you!!!! Sounds great!

cake said...

it must feel great to get started on a big project that's been stewing in your brain for a while.

you've certainly got the writing skills for it, and, i suspect, the "follow through." i'm really lacking in that department...
seems like i need a fire under my ass to get anything done.

Anonymous said...

I've see 1 or 2 books on how to obtain agents, but for the life of me, I can't remember the title(s).

The ways I've learned/heard of how to obtain an agent are
1) to attend conference in your genre (I belong to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and attend their conferences, for e.g.); many agents and editors attend these conferences. They're great places to network.
2) ask writers who write same/similar books as yours who their agents are.

Your book would find an eager audience among homeschoolers (that's something to pitch to an agent). Many of my homeschooling friends would definitely enjoy your book!

julie said...

I just read Publishing Confidential, and it also had some terrific advice.

The guy advises that you go to the bookstore, pick up all the books you really like that are similar to yours, flip to the Acknowledgments, see who they thank as their agent, and query that person.

Awesome, right?

Anonymous said...

That is awesome advice! I know I've seen it somewhere before (can't remember where for the life of me) so I'm guessing it works. Good luck!!

julie said...

Yeah, I really like the implication that not only is the agent interested in your type of book and have experience with it, but she's also gotten it published.

That's the part I like.

Anonymous said...

That said, I came across a site that I want to share: http://www.agentquery.com/